In 2020, Colorado Media Project (CMP) partnered with Colorado News Collaborative (COLab) and Free Press to begin gathering members of communities of color across the state asking the question: What would it take to ensure that local news coverage reflects, respects and reaches out to the state’s communities of color? We have since convened conversations involving over 500 members of Colorado’s Black, Latinx, Asian, South Asian, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, and Indigenous communities, and compiled their recommendations into four Voices Initiative reports.
Today marks the release of the fourth Voices Initiative report — Reach, Representation and Respect: Recommendations to Improve Relations Between Indigenous Communities and Local News in Colorado. The report, written by Tara McLain Manthey, a member of the Osage nation, and informed by the experience and insight of Indigenous Coloradans, offers an authoritative path toward better and more effective news coverage – including recommendations specific to Colorado’s communities, and lessons applicable to newsrooms across the country.
Listen to this KUNC story to learn more about the project, and read the other three reports from Colorado’s Black, Latinx, and Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander communities here.
Join us for a virtual conversation on community recommendations
On May 25, you’re invited to join a virtual event led by McLain Manthey as she dives into the recommendations, moderating a conversation with Indigenous leaders, including Cultivando’s Executive Director, Olga Gonzalez, Yaqui and Otomi, and Denver Indian Center’s Co-Executive Director, Rick Williams, Kiowa and Cherokee. The discussion will focus on the ways the words voiced by Indigenous communities can be turned into action.
Attendance is free, but space is limited. Please register below. This event is hosted by COLab in partnership with Colorado Media Project (CMP), the Mountain West News Bureau, and The Colorado Trust. Become a part of this movement and join us as we discuss the Indigenous Voices recommendations.
Impact on Colorado grantmaking and ecosystem projects
The recommendations of the Voices Initiative reports have informed CMP’s grantmaking over the last two years, including over $350,000 in grants to advance equity and inclusion in local newsrooms in 2023. They have also informed the development of COLab’s Amplify Colorado project, which establishes an online diverse source guide to help newsrooms tap into the wealth of expertise, insight and experience among Colorado’s communities of color and to help those same communities more easily find and connect with local reporters and editors. You can nominate sources for inclusion in the database here.
CMP funding decisions are made by representatives from foundations that have made significant, multi-year commitments to the Colorado media ecosystem through CMP: The Colorado Health Foundation, The Colorado Trust, Democracy Fund, Gates Family Foundation and Rose Community Foundation. Colorado funders interested in joining the CMP Funder Table, which will include a series of learning opportunities throughout 2023, should email Melissa Davis at mdavis@gatesfamilyfoundation.org.